A crash which left two women with serious and long lasting injuries also resulted in a suspended prison sentence for one of the drivers.

Teresa Frances Cadden (49), of Carrowshee Avenue, Drumhaw, Lisnaskea was convicted of grievous bodily injury by careless driving.

The court heard on May 17, 2018 at around 4.15pm police were called to a serious injury road traffic collision on Gardiner’s Cross Road between Tempo and Maguiresbridge.

A Ford Fiesta, being driven by the defendant was heading home from Tempo, when she collided head on with a Peugeot 208 coming in the opposite direction towards Tempo.

It was on a sweeping bend when Cadden’s car crossed over the white line and into the path of the injured party’s car.

Cadden’s car ended upside down on the road while the injured party went through a hedge and ended up in a field. Fire Service personnel had to cut both drivers from their cars.

Collapsed lungs

The defendant was taken to South West Acute Hospital (SWAH) while the injured party was airlifted to the Royal Victoria Hospital.

Injuries listed out in court sustained by the defendant included shattered wrists, bones breaking through the skin, collapsed lungs, lacerations, fracture to spine, broken hip, femur, knee and toes while glass fragments were embedded in her body.

She also had to spend time in a wheelchair after the accident which also affected her emotionally.

Cadden suffered a fracture to the neck and pelvis, collapsed lungs and went into cardiac arrest at SWAH and spent four days in a coma.

There were two vehicles travelling behind the injured party’s car at the time of the accident and witness statements from them said the Fiesta crossed onto the wrong side of the road impacting head on with the Peugeot.

Last memory

A statement from a farmer, who came on the scene and spoke to both the defendant and injured party while they were in their cars, said the injured party said it was not her fault and to get her out of the car.

Cadden was interviewed in August 2018 and said she could not remember anything about the incident and her last memory was one mile before the collision.

She told officers how someone mentioned to her that there had been an oil spill on Gardiner’s Cross Road just before the crash but investigations showed that while there was an oil spill on the road it did not play a part in the crash.

Defending barrister, Steffan Rafferty described the incident as a “clearly sad and unfortunate case for all concerned” which resulted in serious injury to both drivers and caused significant damage.

Guilty plea

He said it was important to state that his client accepted the fault lay with her hence the guilty plea.

Mr. Rafferty said it was not clear what caused Cadden to cross to the other side of the road as she has no recollection of the crash.

With the injured party listening into the hearing remotely, Mr. Rafferty, on behalf of the defendant, apologised and wished the victim well in her recovery.

He added that Cadden was fully aware of the terrible and severe injuries sustained and struggles to cope with the fact such severe injuries are her fault.

Mr. Rafferty concluded by saying that the automatic driving ban his client gets will have a serious impact on her going forward and asked the court to give her maximum credit for her guilty plea and how she dealt with the matter.

Describing it as a “very difficult case”, District Judge Steven Keown said any sentence imposed had to equate to the “devastating injuries” sustained by the injured party and the life changing injuries cannot be understated.

Responsibility

He said he took some time to read and consider the injured party’s victim impact statement and that this incident proves the responsibility everybody has when driving.

Judge Keown sentenced Cadden to three months imprisonment suspended for two years and disqualified her from driving for two years.